Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City senior vice president Barb Pacheco, who also is head of the Fed’s Financial Services Division, has a mission to map out developments in the mobile payments sector and explain it to bankers. Of particular concern to her is the role of public authorities such as the Fed, theContinue Reading

There is a nascent divide within the payments industry, with parties such as the Electronic Transactions Association (ETA) worried “that some entities who view the advent of mobile payments as a threat to their incumbent advantage might call for unnecessary regulation,” says ETA CEO Jason Oxman. On the other side are firms such as theContinue Reading

Two more gift card providers in addition to American Express will stop selling their products in New Jersey because they cannot comply with a law that lets the state seize any unspent value on the cards. InComm of Atlanta and Blackhawk Network announced on April 5 that they will cease selling their cards in NewContinue Reading

Due to decades of U.S. sanctions, major credit cards such as MasterCard, Visa and American Express have been absent in Myanmar, obliging tourists and both local and foreign businesspeople to carry wads of cash. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that the United States would start easing restrictions on the financial sector in Myanmar afterContinue Reading

American Express has yanked its network-branded gift cards from all New Jersey retailer outlets in response to a state law that lets New Jersey appropriate funds from unused gift cards. AmEx says it took this action because it cannot meet the statute’s requirement that retailers collect the ZIP codes of customers who buy AmEx-branded giftContinue Reading

As mobile banking evolves from its roots in online banking, can a separate regulatory regime be far behind? by KAREN EPPER HOFFMAN Does mobile banking need its own rules? Long seen as more or less another facet of conventional online banking, the mobile channel is typically regulated by the same rules and the same governingContinue Reading